Report: J-Kom new boss says agency to spread govt policy, not propaganda
The newly minted chief of the controversial Community Communications Department (J-Kom) has refuted claims that there are cyber troopers working at the department to spread political propaganda.
Junaidi Abu Bakar told a news portal that the agency's main task is to empower the community and spread information on government policies.
"People say we are cyber troopers...
The newly minted chief of the controversial Community Communications Department (J-Kom) has refuted claims that there are cyber troopers working at the department to spread political propaganda.
Junaidi Abu Bakar (above) told a news portal that the agency's main task is to empower the community and spread information on government policies.
"People say we are cyber troopers, but we are not. We create material, such as videos, to explain government policies to the communities.
"We simplify the policies (so people can understand), and we work on a small scale because the Prime Minister's Department also has its own information department," he told The Malaysian Insight in an interview.
Junaidi was formerly a deputy vice-chancellor of Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris, before he was appointed as J-Kom's director-general on July 21.
J-Kom, which moniker has been rebranded to JKK, caught controversy when the then Perikatan Nasional government proposed an RM85.5 million allocation during the tabling of Budget 2021 in November last year.
The Dewan Rakyat later approved a motion to slash the allocation to RM45 million.
Back then, J-Kom was under the purview of the Communications and Multimedia Ministry. It was said to be a revived version of the Special Affairs Department (Jasa), which was known to be a propaganda arm during the pre-14th general election BN era.
According to Junaidi, since the change of government last month following the resignation of Muhyiddin Yassin as prime minister, it was yet to be clear under which ministry J-Kom would be parked. It is now under the Prime Minister's Department.
The director-general also reportedly said he is an academic by nature, and thus would not be running the agency as a propaganda unit and use it for politics.
"I’m not a politician, I’m an academic. For a propaganda unit, it takes politicians," he told the portal.
He also refuted claims that the agency was set up to replace Jasa, and that it has employees all over the country.
According to Junaidi, J-Kom only has four staff when he came into office.
"Our main job is community empowerment, training and education, not propaganda like Jasa used to do. There is no staff from Jasa in this department.
"We provide courses, information, and workshops to the community to teach them how to use the Internet or to tune in to live broadcasts and so on."
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